Ferndale city officials announced Thursday that City Manager April Lynch is leaving her job to take a new position.

Lynch’s new job will be working as associate vice president for human resources for the University of Detroit Mercy. She will leave Ferndale at the end of next month.

She was hired by the city more than seven years ago and is Ferndale’s first female manager.

In July she was one of five finalists to become city manager in Grand Rapids. However, the job went two months later to another finalist, Mark Washington, and he became the first African-American city manager in that city's history.

Ferndale Mayor David Coulter said Lynch has an expertise in organizational development that has helped the city.

“Her great work making our operations more customer focused and spearheading our new strategic plan has enabled the success we’ve had,” he said.”I’ll miss her strategic thinking and sound advice. We’ll engage a search firm shortly to begin the process of finding someone who values working in a vibrant and innovative city like ours.”

Lynch said in a release Thursday her time in Ferndale has been among the most personally and professionally rewarding of her career.

“I believe strongly in our team,” she said, “and I have no doubt that this great city will continue to flourish under the invested leadership team our mayor and council.”

Ferndale’s City Council hired Lynch in 2011 after she had worked as an assistant city manager in Ypsilanti. She had also worked as the human resources director in Ypsilanti in addition to positions in planning and zoning departments there.

Coulter said in a statement Thursday that hiring Lynch was one of his first major decisions after he became mayor.

“She doesn’t seek the limelight, so residents may or may not be aware of the critical role she’s played in shaping the success we enjoy today,” Coulter said, adding that he is grateful for her leadership and counsel during her tenure.

Among Lynch’s work with the city, officials said, she helped:

• Develop the city’s first strategic plan with multi-year budgets

• Execute a series of improvements in city parks

• Oversee reinvestment and redevelopment in the downtown

• Begin an early college program to encourage minority students to pursue law enforcement careers

“Our accomplishments have truly been team efforts,” Lynch said. “I’m grateful for the privilege of serving our community and working with such a talented group of people.”